The Devouring of Souls

Ember Frost’s POV"When your souls merge with His divine power, you will never be separated from Him. His strength becomes your strength. His eternity becomes your eternity."Her eyes gleamed with fanatical devotion."You wished for eternal life, did you not?"An uncomfortable silence followed.No one agreed with her, but no one seemed brave enough to challenge her either.The smile on her face faded slightly."You wanted rewards without sacrifice," she said, her gaze sweeping across the crowd. "You wanted blessings without paying the price. How selfish."I almost laughed.The woman was preparing to feed them to a nightmare from another realm, and somehow they were the selfish ones.Then she raised a hand.At first, nothing happened. A few confused glances passed through the crowd before several fanatics suddenly stiffened. Their bodies began moving toward the High Priestess against their will, their expressions twisting with panic as they struggled to resist.A chill settled in my st

The Face of a Fallen God

Ember Frost’s POVI had never witnessed magic like this before.Streams of power tore across the altar, each spell more unsettling than the last. My pulse hammered in my ears as I watched. For the first time, I understood why ancient sorcerers had been feared for centuries.Compared to this, the magic most werewolf elders wielded felt almost ordinary. Powerful, yes, but familiar.Nothing behaved the way it should have. Attacks that looked certain to hit somehow missed. Others vanished before they could reach her. No matter how closely I watched, I couldn't figure out how she was doing it.Around me, every werewolf remained tense. Not a single person dared lower their guard.The black mist never stayed still. It drifted around the High Priestess in slow, restless waves, sometimes concealing her before revealing her again. The sight of it made me uneasy.What frightened me most was how little effort she seemed to be using.Attacks that should have forced anyone onto the defensive were b

Wrong Familiarity

Ember Frost’s POVI couldn’t stop looking at him. Something about it didn’t sit right. It had nothing to do with the blood, the altar, or even the fact that he was a demon.But because he reminded me of someone.Eira.A chill ran down my spine.I looked again, searching for the resemblance. It didn't make sense. Their faces weren't identical. His features were sharper, more commanding. There was a hardness to him that Eira had never possessed.Yet the familiarity remained.It hid in the curve of a smile that wasn't there. In the way his eyes seemed to hold centuries of stories. In something I couldn't point to but couldn't ignore either.The more I looked, the more uneasy I became.No.That couldn't be right.Eira and Malachar couldn't be connected. The gap between them spanned thousands of years. There was no logical explanation for it.And yet...So why did I keep seeing her face every time I looked at him?Malachar stood beneath the moonlight spilling through the broken temple roo

A Dangerous Interest

Ember Frost’s POV“Bullshit,” I snapped.The High Priestess made a strangled sound, caught somewhere between rage and panic, but Malachar didn’t even glance at her. That alone seemed to push the woman closer to losing control.“My lord—this insolence, this disrespect—”“Enough,” Malachar said quietly.It wasn't loud, but the cavern fell silent all the same. Even the High Priestess stopped talking.A knot tightened in my stomach as I watched a thin strand of black mist appear beside Malachar.Orion’s voice cracked behind me. “Don’t—”I already knew what he meant. Move. Get out of the way.But I didn’t.Not because I was fearless. Because I refused to step back.The moment the mist touched me, my skin went cold.And then something inside me answered it.I wasn't trying to get myself killed.Provoking Malachar hadn't been an accident. I'd wanted his attention from the start. As long as he struck first, I would have a chance to use Lunaris on him.I'd considered attacking with Lunaris dir

Blood on the Snow

Ember Frost’s POVEira slipped the metal seal into her pocket before I could get a better look at it."Explanations later," she said sharply. "We need to move."The urgency in her voice wiped away any questions I had. Around us, injured wolves struggled to their feet while others helped carry those who couldn't walk.As we moved toward the tunnel, I noticed something strange—the glowing threads that had once wrapped the cavern in their silver light were gone. Completely gone, leaving the walls looking ordinary, as if the magic had never existed at all. I glanced at Eira."You did that too?"She shook her head."No. Whatever protected this place was already breaking apart."I looked back at the cavern one last time.Outside, snow swept across the mountainside in restless gusts. The twisted wolves guarding the area were still there, only now they looked lost. They drifted through the snow, low growls rumbling from their throats, eyes darting nervously as if they had forgotten what the

Crystals and Ruptures

Ember Frost's POVI pushed Lunaris outward. It answered at first, but then it wavered. The connection didn’t break, but it slipped out of place, no longer responding the way it should have. The souls still came, just not the way they should have. They drifted around Malachar in uneven fragments, unstable and out of rhythm, not fully obeying my control. Malachar tilted his head slightly, watching them without concern, as if they weren’t worth his attention. “That’s what you came up with?” he asked, sounding almost amused. “All that effort, and they still don’t listen properly.” A flick of his fingers scattered the closest wave of spirits. He didn't even bother avoiding them. My breath caught.My stomach tightened. The spirits weren't resisting him. They were responding to him. A sharp sound cut through the chaos. The High Priestess staggered as black light split the ground beneath her. The souls turned on her instantly. Whatever control I'd had over them was gone. They surged t